New competition on the Topography of Terror decided

Yesterday, the jury convened to decide on the winner of the second competition for the Topography of Terror center in Berlin, and almost immediately published the results. After Zumthor's concrete towers of the winning project from the first competition were demolished, a new two-round pan-European anonymous competition was announced. The first place was awarded to the Berlin studio Heinle, Wischer und Partner in collaboration with landscape architect Heinz W. Hallmann from Aachen. The remaining prizes were mostly shared among other Berlin offices. The new winning design responds to some aspects of Zumthor's previous project. However, it is far less violent towards the site (although it deserves to be) and also considers the feasibility of the construction. The authors themselves add to their project: “The form and positioning of the documentation center building, on one hand, communicates with the neighboring Martin-Gropius-Bau, while on the other hand, its square form protects itself from the site itself. The single-story cube behaves completely neutrally towards what has historically occurred at the site.” Info>